Background
Ronda Beselt, plaintiff-appellant, pursued claims in the Circuit Court of the Second Circuit against Waldorf=Astoria Management LLC, a foreign limited liability company, and the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources. After proceedings below (Case No. 2CC161000597), the matter was appealed to the Intermediate Court of Appeals, generating two appellate docket numbers — CAAP-23-0000695 and CAAP-24-0000314. The ICA’s disposition prompted Beselt to seek further review before the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court.
Beselt filed her application for writ of certiorari on May 11, 2026. The court considered the application with Acting Chief Justice McKenna and Justice Eddins joined by three circuit judges sitting by designation or assignment due to recusals and a court vacancy.
The Court’s Holding
This document is an order granting certiorari review — it is not a merits decision. The court accepted Beselt’s application for writ of certiorari, agreeing to review the ICA’s rulings. No substantive holding on the underlying dispute has been issued at this stage.
The court additionally ordered that no oral argument will be held absent further order, while preserving any party’s right to move for retention of oral argument within ten days under Hawaiʻi Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 34(c). All remaining pending motions were dismissed.
Key Takeaways
- The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court accepted certiorari review of the ICA’s rulings in this case involving Waldorf=Astoria Management LLC and the state DLNR as defendants.
- No merits ruling has been issued; the grant of certiorari means only that the court will examine the questions presented by Beselt.
- Oral argument has been provisionally waived, though parties retain the right to move for it within ten days.
Why It Matters
This order signals that the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court found the questions raised by Beselt sufficiently significant to warrant review, but the underlying legal issues and their resolution remain to be determined. Practitioners with matters involving claims against hotel management entities or the DLNR in Hawaiʻi should monitor this case for the forthcoming merits opinion.
Note: The opinion text provided to generate this summary is limited to the certiorari-grant order. Background facts and legal issues underlying the dispute are not detailed in that document and have not been inferred or supplemented here.